Bi-folding doors are widely used for enclosing openings for closets and cabinets. Various fitting arrangements utilizing pivot and guide rod assemblies have been provided for supporting the doors in the opening and guiding them during their opening and closing movement. Some of the prior arrangements have been disadvantageous because they are difficult to assemble and adjust, and more importantly are expensive and space consuming to ship when installed in a folding door.
To conserve shipping space, it has been the practice to secure the pivot and guide rod assembly in a retracted position. This practice also protects the assembly against damage. Once the door is installed, it is necessary that the rod assembly be released to permit the rod to engage a guide channel mounted to the opening which defines the range of movement of the door.
An example of a pivot and guide rod assembly which is designed to meet these needs is disclosed in U.S. Re. Pat. No. 31,553. This self-contained rod was a major advance over the prior multiple piece pivot rods. Further improvements, however, were contemplated with respect to the cost of molding the latch, the appearance and the durability of that rod assembly.
Another example of a guide and pivot rod assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,310. This assembly features a retractable pin and a locking tang for holding the assembly in the door frame. The pivot rod is held in the retracted position by a lug attached to the rod, which lug passes through an opening in the end wall of the housing of the assembly. In the retracted position the rod is rotated to lock the lug against the end wall of the housing. To extend the pivot rod into its extended position, it is necessary to re-rotate the rod to align the lug with the opening in the end wall before passing the lug back through the opening. This construction is inconvenient because the lug and opening are not visible to the installer and must be blindly aligned by the installer in a hit-or-miss fashion.
Other examples of pivot and guide rod assemblies which utilize yieldably positioned rods received within a plastic sleeve are known in the art. Three such assemblies being shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,657; U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,300; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,592,257. These assemblies, however, do not provide for shipment of the pins in a retracted position.